Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hezbollah may not be included on the European Union's list of terrorist groups even if it did bomb Jewish tourists in Bulgaria, the EU's top counter-terrorism official reportedly said.

On Monday, the news site EUobserver quoted the official, Gilles de Kerchove, as saying that Bulgaria's investigation into the incident is likely to be concluded next month.

There have been reports that Bulgaria is very close to publishing its report on the terrorist attack last July in Bulgaria -- and that the report would reveal that the terrorist group Hezbollah was in fact behind it. It has been anticipated that such a report would pressure the EU to comply with requests from the US and Israel to put Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations. Such a move would bring added pressure, making it illegal for funding to be sent to the group.

But now the EU, which has been very reluctant to take a stand against Hezbollah, is claiming that even if Hezbollah committed a terrorist act on European soil, that is not enough make it a terrorist group:

“There is no automatic listing just because you have been behind a terrorist attack," de Kerchove is quoted as saying. "It's not only the legal requirement that you have to take into consideration, it's also a political assessment of the context and the timing." [emphasis added]

He noted there is "no consensus" among EU states on whether listing Hezbollah, which is part of the Lebanese government, would be useful or not.

The first step in combating the scourge of terrorism requires recognizing who the terrorists are. But the EU not only does not think that committing terrorism requires labeling them as terrorists, it will have to take "political" considerations into account as well.

And on top of all that, labeling Hezbollah terrorists as terrorists is not useful.

Or to quote Hillary Clinton: "What difference does it make"TM

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About Me

When I am not blogging at Daled Amos, I am sharing articles and the great posts of others on my account on Google Plus.

I write about the Middle East in general and about Israel in particular -- especially about issues affecting Israel in the Middle East and how Israel is impacted by policy in the current Obama administration.